Chapter 558 Intrigue

After capturing the Ava area, the Russian army did not stop the war, but went straight to the Bosphorus Strait, which is the first gateway to the Black Sea.

If a few decades ago, it would have been possible to cross the sea directly from Constantinople, but not now. With the development of artillery technology, it is too easy for shore artillery to block the strait.

The coalition also considered launching an attack from the Sea of ​​Marmara, but before the outbreak of the war, the Ottomans concentrated their navy.

Austria did not have many warships in the Sea of ​​Marmara. It was okay to suppress the Ottoman Navy, but it was impossible to eliminate them.

In the face of the enemy huddled in the port, it is more convenient to fight on land. The navy rushed into the decisive battle, and the price to pay is too great.

In the Ava command, Lieutenant General Harrosf, who was guilty and meritorious, reported in a low voice: "Your Excellency Commander, the attack ahead has been blocked, and the enemy's resistance is too fierce.

Even very despicable disguise as old and weak women and children, let our army relax its vigilance, and then launch a sneak attack. Front-line troops were slow to progress and called for airship bomber support. "

What is "disguised as an old and weak woman and child", that is clearly the old and weak woman and child. The makeup skills of these years are not so good, and the gap in body shape cannot be concealed.

With the propaganda of the Sudanese government, the Russian army has turned into a man-eating demon, and the people have long been mobilized, either voluntarily or by force. These people have caused a lot of trouble for the Russian army.

Admiral Ivanov glared fiercely, and his dissatisfaction was palpable: "Waste, don't we leave the airship unit, our soldiers will not be able to fight?

Tell the front-line troops that the airship troops are not their nanny, and they have to find a way to fight their own battles.

Now the airship unit is carrying out a strategic bombing mission, which is related to the entire war situation, not just for them. "

The Austrian airship force is somewhat large, and even if all of them are dispatched, there are only a few people. While carrying out strategic bombing, there is simply not enough troops to support the front-line Russian army.

Ivanov can become the commander of the Russian army, but he is not afraid of being in the position, and there is no shortage of strategic vision.

In terms of the overall war situation, bombing Ottoman cities, weakening the enemy's war potential, blowing up roads and bridges along the way, and increasing the pressure on the enemy's logistical supplies are much more important than winning one or two lines of defense.

If you just stare at the battlefield in front of you, you will collide head-on and collide all the way. Not to mention 150,000 Russian troops, even if it were 1.5 million Russian troops, there would be few left in the end.

Ivanov is still very fond of Lieutenant General Harosf's subordinate. Otherwise, he can go home to retire for the sake of Ava's business. How can he stay and commit crimes?

Ivanov knew very well that this war in the Near East was regarded by many as a good opportunity for gilding, and a large number of related households were mixed into the Russian army of 150,000 people.

Whenever I want to ask for help, most of them are made by the officer of the related household. If the Austrian airship unit is under his command, Ivanov is also willing to sell his favor.

Unfortunately, this time the two sides are commanded separately. Since the Russian army insisted on launching the Black Sea Strait Raiders, the Coalition Command Headquarters has been completely reduced to the Logistics Office + Relations Coordination Committee.

Now both sides are fighting their own way, and joint operations do not exist. Austria's cooperation is also limited to providing them with logistics and, if necessary, ship transfer troops.

There is no problem with this command mode. The Austrian army is fighting in the Middle East, and the Russian army is fighting hard in the Asia Minor peninsula. The two places are far apart and cannot be united.

The airship troop should forget it. Due to information asymmetry, there were accidents of accidentally injuring friendly troops in the previous cooperation, and the two sides even had a big fight.

Then, Aleister completely released the Russians, and pretended not to see no matter how the Russians fought. All the airship troops were sent out for strategic bombing, far from the front line.

Distance produces beauty, without the cooperation of the airship troops, the Russian army immediately misses the benefits of having someone on the head to cooperate. The airship unit may not be able to blow up as many enemies and destroy as many fortifications, but it is very important in disintegrating the enemy's military.

According to past experience, no matter how fierce the resistance of the Ottoman army was, as long as a few bombs fell from the sky, morale would drop by a notch in an instant.

It was impossible for Ivanov to admit that the Russian army could not fight without the help of Austria, and he had to bite the bullet and proceed. Moreover, the strategic bombing of airship troops is also beneficial to the entire battlefield.

Lieutenant General Harrosf explained: "Your Excellency Commander, the casualties of our army have been quite large recently, and the casualties in the past two days have exceeded 1,000.

After paying such a high price, we can only advance a dozen kilometers every day. In addition to the casualties in the Battle of Ava, the number of casualties of our army has exceeded 8,000.

According to the current progress, it will take at least one month to conquer the Bosphorus. The casualties that need to be paid may be as high as tens of thousands.

This has exceeded our capacity. The Bosphorus is just the beginning, and it is only a small step from the first phase of the strategic mission.

If this situation does not change, the war cannot be won at all with our current strength. Even if the domestic military can continue to increase, there are still many issues that need to be involved. "

If the enemy does not work hard, the battle will naturally be difficult to fight. In just over a week, the Russian army has defeated 58,000 enemy troops, wiped out 12,000 enemy troops, and captured 836 enemy troops.

So few prisoners are the result of propaganda by the Sudanese government. The Ottoman soldiers believed that the Russian army would be killed, and naturally they would not surrender.

captured prisoner

The captives are basically the results of the previous landing campaign. Since word spread of Ava's massacre, the Ottoman soldiers seldom surrendered.

The enemy chose to fight to the end, and the number of Russian casualties inevitably went up. Now the Russian army has more than 8,000 casualties, including more than 2,000 people who died in battle. Even if they receive effective treatment, only half of them will be able to return to the battlefield.

Ivanov shook his head: "I am also aware of these situations, but it still won't work. The airship unit is not our army, and the command is in the hands of the Austrians.

The coalition headquarters is still in Constantinople, and there is no plan to move the nest at all. Even if there is coordination, we have to send people back to Constantinople first.

How long does it take to go back and forth? Every time you come like this, how will you fight the next battle?

We have made a clear agreement with Austria, and now we only need to ask them for help once or twice. If we need their help throughout the war, we will be able to win, and things will not be so simple.

Countries are looking at interests, and no one will pay blindly. Every time we ask for help, there is a price to pay, and these are the interests of the Russian Empire. "

Anything involving politics becomes more complicated. In the case of stabbing between allies, neither side has done much.

It's just embarrassing that the Austrians are relatively obscure, and they can't get the handle on the surface at all; on the contrary, the tsarist government has done things, and many things have been caught upright.

These open and secret battles, the people below are still unclear, and Ivanov has already been in contact. For the sake of interests, these contradictions and conflicts have been suppressed by both parties.

But the estrangement has been buried. Today you plot against me, and tomorrow I plot against you. Almost every time a contradiction arises, the relationship between the two countries is even further apart.

The Vienna government refused to renew the contract, and the tsarist government did not jump out to accuse it, that is, because Austria was caught by many things, and the rhetoric was unreasonable.

If these things are not exposed, it's still hello, me, and everyone. Once the cover is lifted, the rest of the matter will not end well. At least the hostility between the two countries is indispensable.

The high-level intrigue directly pits the officers and soldiers below. Otherwise, even if the airship force is insufficient, can the Vienna government not replenish it?

It cannot be said that Austria does not even have a single airship in reserve, only the 120 airships on the front line.

You must know that the Austrian airship unit has existed for more than ten years. For such a long time, there are naturally many airships that have been retired in the middle. These airships have not been dismantled and sold for scrap iron, but they are still sealed up.

It can be activated at any time as long as the Vienna government wishes. Anyway, the Ottomans have no anti-aircraft firepower, even if the performance of the airship is a little worse, it is not a big problem to bomb the enemy.

It is not impossible to change this situation. As long as the tsarist government is willing to bow its head or pay a certain price, it can achieve its goal.

Unfortunately, this can only be wishful thinking. In this war in the Near East, the two countries joined forces entirely because of their interests. Since interests are involved, there is no way to compromise on many issues.

The casualties of a few soldiers were not seen by the tsarist government at all. How could it be possible to make concessions?

The war on the front line was still burning, and the Russian soldiers rushed forward and fought hard against the Ottomans.

St. Petersburg is also not calm. Since the reception of the Polish parliamentary election for the king, the tsarist government has not been able to sit still.

The facts are in front of us. In this election, William I did not even have a strong competitor, and there was no suspense in winning.

Once Poland and Prussia are co-monarchs, the union of the two countries is bound to become closer, and it is even possible to merge into one country.

It was the tsarist government that led the two countries to intensify their union. The existence of the Russian Empire brought heavy pressure on the ruling classes of the two countries. People of insight in the two countries knew that only by uniting would they have the strength to fight against the Russians. .

This is not something that individuals can resist, and it was the intervention of the great powers that prevented this from happening before. After all, after the Russian-Prussian War, the Russian Empire was a bit miserable, and the tsarist government seemed likely to collapse at any time.

Britain, France and Austria did not want to add a cake to the table, so they strongly interfered in the Polish throne election and kicked William I out of the game as soon as possible. Not to be outdone, the Prussians simply pushed the revolutionary party to power and secretly supported the revolutionary party to prevent the election of the throne.

The delay in the settlement of the Polish throne is the result of the joint intervention of all parties. Now the situation has changed, and no one expected that after the reform of Alexander II, the Russian Empire would recover so quickly.

Maybe not as strong as the peak period, but it is also much stronger than the current Prussia and Poland. If the comprehensive national strength is calculated, the Russians are almost twice as large as Prussia + Poland combined.

The action of the Berlin government was also forced out. Without annexing the Kingdom of Poland, the subsequent war is almost doomed to be lost.

After the reforms of Alexander II, the Russian Empire was much more stable. Having food in hand does not panic, even if it is painful in the agricultural crisis, but in the war years this is an advantage.

As long as the tsarist government can manage enough, the gray animals will be able to fight. If you want to kill the Russians, don't be ridiculous. Has the tsarist government retreated to Moscow?

No matter how many battles the front lost, the tsarist government with food in its hands would not collapse. After the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, Alexander II gritted his teeth and directly collected grain as a tax, turning these grains into strategic reserves. This was the root cause of the financial collapse of the tsarist government.

Otherwise, after tax reform, so many worms have been cleaned up. Even if large tracts of territory are lost, the tsarist government

Fiscal revenue should also exceed before, how could it be about to go bankrupt?

Glancing at the crowd, Alexander II asked: "William I jumped out to fight for the Polish throne at this time, what do you think?"

The tsar is also not easy to do. From the time he ascended the throne, Alexander II did not live a good life for a few days.

Because of a misjudgment, at the beginning of his succession, he thought of restricting Austria, ignoring the threat of the Kingdom of Prussia, which resulted in the current unfavorable situation, and the internal criticism has never stopped.

If it weren't for Alexander II's political skills, he would have been ousted long ago. The matter of changing the tsar, it is not that the Russian Empire has not happened.

The last example was Peter III, who happened to be pro-Public. Alexander II obviously learned his lesson and decisively chose to beat Prussia. Although he lost the war, he still kept the throne.

In this regard, the Russian people are still very generous. Victory or defeat is a matter of military affairs. As long as the tsar can keep an eye on the inside of the government, as long as the people at the bottom can fill their stomachs, they will not rebel because of the failure of the war.

Foreign Secretary Chris Basham: "Your Majesty, the actions of the Prussians at this time are related to the current international situation.

Napoleon III died of illness, and the French government was caught in the whirlpool of power struggles, and had no energy to participate in international affairs for a short time. As long as the Prussians are willing to pay a certain price, it is not difficult to keep the French on the sidelines.

As the Russian-Austrian relations turned cold, the Vienna government had no idea of ​​supporting Prussia to contain us. Even if not now, there will be in the future.

Now. Our and Austrian energies were diverted to a large extent in the war in the Near East, and if the Prussians were willing to spend a fortune, the Vienna government might acquiesce to their actions.

Once France and Austria are settled, it is not difficult to convince the British. Even if the London government opposes it, it will not send troops to interfere.

If Britain, France and Austria do not take action, even if we send troops to intervene, the Prussians will not let go, which will inevitably lead to a new war.

We are not ready yet, the war in the Near East has restrained some of our strength, and the outbreak of war now is very unfavorable for us. The Prussians should have seen this opportunity before taking the opportunity. "

After such a stroke from Chris Basham, things became clear. Although there is a solution, it is a pity that the decision-making power is not in the hands of the tsarist government.

The French and Austrian countries do not fight, and their family alone cannot frighten the Prussians. They are all enemies anyway, and the Berlin government doesn't care what they think.

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